Word: vatican
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When the Pope lifted the excommunication of four ultra-conservative Roman Catholic bishops earlier this year, he was plunged into one of the worst controversies of his pontificate. Since then, the Vatican has been trying - not always with success - to explain that the group isn't fully back in Rome's embrace...
...tapped by Pope Benedict XVI to lead Vatican negotiations with the Lefebvrite movement says the controversial group remains in schism with the Catholic Church and that only its acceptance of the Second Vatican Council and obedience to the Pope can bring it fully back into the fold. In his first public comments since Benedict lifted the excommunication of the four bishops in January, Vatican doctrinal chief Cardinal William Levada tells TIME that important, and potentially insurmountable, differences still separate the Vatican and the group known as the Society of St. Pius X. Pointing to the Pope's letter last month...
...Silva, assailed the church for hewing to doctrine despite extreme mitigating circumstances--the child, who was carrying twins, had allegedly been raped by her stepfather. While generally illegal in heavily Catholic Brazil, abortion is permitted in rape cases. Critics said the church--whose actions were backed by the Vatican--risked alienating congregants...
...most explicit Vatican statement on the topic was the 2003 paper "Family Values vs. Safe Sex," written by the then head of the Pontifical Council, the late Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, who was widely criticized for questioning the science behind the efficacy of condoms in preventing AIDS. But the document also laid out the idea that Benedict seemed to be alluding to on the papal plane. "To control the pandemic [of AIDS], it is necessary to promote responsible sexual behavior that is inculcated by means of authentic sexual education, that respects the dignity of man and woman...
...Martini, retired archbishop of Milan - and one of the towering intellects in the church, often considered the yin to Benedict's yang - opined that condoms might be the lesser evil in some situations, notably when one partner in a proper marriage has the HIV virus. That same year, the Vatican health office said it would proceed with an internal study of the issue, though nothing further has come...